Aston Villa v Arsenal: Gunners price holds plenty of appeal

• Aston Villa struggle for clean sheets

• Arsenal's impressive away record

• Back the Gunners to bounce back

Villa outclassed early on

For the second successive week, mistakes cost Aston Villa dearly as Unai Emery's team were beaten in devastating fashion by Manchester City at The Etihad.

The Villains gifted Leicester all three points at Villa Park a fortnight ago and were similarly charitable in a desperately-disappointing first-half performance against the defending champions last weekend.

For long periods before the break Villa sat back and looked to hit the home side on the break, but were let down by needless defensive mistakes - the worst of which cost them the second goal. Emery's outfit got greater rewards when they pressed higher up the pitch in the second half, with the pace and tenacity of Ollie Watkins a constant threat.

Post-match, Emery branded the first 45 minutes as "the worst performance" since he took charge and lamented avoidable errors.

But the Villa chief also singled out Jhon Duran following an eye-catching cameo from the bench and confirmed that key defender Tyrone Mings should be available again for the hosts. Bertrand Traore is also back in training.

Mistakes cost Arsenal in crucical contest

Arsenal's title hopes suffered a damaging blow on Wednesday night as the Gunners suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Manchester City.

The reverse allowed the Citizens to leapfrog Mikel Arteta's troops into top spot with the capital club paying a heavy price for individual errors in the midweek Emirates Stadium showdown.

Takehiro Tomiyasu's poor backpass allowed Kevin de Bruyne to loft a finish over Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale after 24 minutes but Arsenal deservedly drew level three minutes before half-time, Bukayo Saka scoring from the spot.

However, Gabriel lost possession to City in for a second before Erling Haaland wrapped the points up late on.

Arteta admitted post-match his side weren't clinical enough, saying: "In the end, games are decided in the boxes. We have given too much away, and we weren't ruthless enough to convert our chances. That's what we have to improve."

The Gunners defeat continued a recent stumble in which Arsenal have lost at City in the FA Cup and at Everton in the league, and drawn controversially against Brentford. The title challengers are hoping to have Thomas Partey back in the frame this weekend.

Gunners appeal at the prices

Aston Villa won three consecutive Premier League games against Arsenal from July 2020 to February 2021, but the Second City club come into this contest on the back of three straight losses versus the Gunners.

The Londoners have tabled top honours in two of their last three visits to Villa Park and have triumphed here on 13 occasions in the Premier League.

Aston Villa 4.607/2 have lost back-to-back Premier League games, as many as they had in their previous nine (W6-D1-L2) league encounters.

Unai Emery's outfit have shipped seven goals across their two recent defeats, as many as they had in their previous seven games combined. The hosts have W1-D1-L0 when welcoming top-three opposition this term.

Arsenal 1.8910/11 opened the campaign with a remarkable W16-D2-L1 return but the Gunners' past six fixtures have seen Mikel Arteta's troops table only two triumphs (W2-D2-L2) to surrender their advantage at the top of the standings.

Nevertheless, the visitors do boast a league-best W8-D1-L2 record on their travels, including the best away defensive record.

Arteta's outfit to bounce back

Aston Villa's outings have been largely fun to follow since Steven Gerrard was axed in mid-October.

Nine of the side's past 12 Premier League tussles broke the Over 2.5 Goals 2.021/1 barrier as Both Teams To Score 1.9520/21 banked in Seven of those 12 encounters. Those fixtures have featured a lofty average of 3.33 goals per-game.

Villa have managed only five clean sheets over the course of the campaign and look vulnerable hosts here against an Arsenal side determined to bounce back from midweek disappointment.

The Gunners impressed for large parts of their Man City loss and should be capable of enhancing an impressive goals return on the road (averaging 1.82 goals).

Arsenal were 1.9520/21 when travelling to Brighton on New Year's Eve so to catch the Gunners at a fraction smaller here holds plenty of appeal considering their consistently strong underlying process this season.

Punters looking for a bigger-priced offering can back Arsenal to win, Over 1.5 Goals and Eddie Nketiah to score at an attractive 4.003/1 via the Bet Builder.